Black Hat with a Clear Conscious
I want to clarify here, that just because something is called “Black Hat Gamification” doesn’t mean it’s necessarily bad or unethical. Some people voluntarily use Black Hat gamification to force themselves to live healthier and achieve their short term and long term goals. I would personally love to be addicted to eating more vegetables or confronting the tasks that I tend to procrastinate on. The point of it being called Black Hat is that, once designed well, we are more compelled to take certain actions quickly without feeling completely in control.
However, whether it is “good” or “bad” depends on the intentions and final outcome of those actions. We could use Black Hat designs to motivate people towards good behaviors or we could use Black Hat designs to motivate people towards evil. Similarly, some of the most infamous people in history motivate others with Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning &...